South Korea and the US yesterday agreed on “swift punitive measures” against North Korea in the event of further provocation, as a North Korean official vowed it would push ahead with nuclear and missile tests to counter US “hostile acts.”
As a standoff escalated over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, South Korea said the deployment of a US anti-missile defense system was moving ahead effectively a day after angry protests against the battery and fierce opposition from China.
South Korea on Wednesday moved parts of a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system to its deployment site, on what had been a golf course, about 250km south of the capital, Seoul, signalling a faster installation of the system.
Photo: AP
“The two sides pledged that in the event of additional strategic provocation by the North to swiftly take punitive measures, including a new UN Security Council resolution that are unbearable for the North,” the South Korean Presidential Office said after its national security adviser, Kim Kwan-jin, held a telephone call with US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.
The US and North Korea have stepped up warnings to each other over North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and missiles in defiance of UN resolutions.
The North Korean threat is perhaps the most serious security challenge confronting US President Donald Trump.
He has vowed to stop the North from being able to hit the US with a nuclear missile and US Vice President Mike Pence last week said that the “era of strategic patience” was over.
Though it has warned “all options are on the table,” Trump’s administration on Wednesday said it aimed to push North Korea into dismantling its weapons programs through tougher sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and it remained open to talks.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats described North Korea as “an urgent national security threat and top foreign policy priority.”
The US signal of a willingness to exhaust non-military avenues came as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group approached Korean waters, where it is to join the USS Michigan nuclear submarine.
North Korea, which on Tuesday conducted its biggest-ever artillery exercise to mark the 85th anniversary of its military’s creation, says it needs to develop weapons to defend itself from US aggression.
A North Korean official speaking on CNN said the country would not be influenced by outside events.
“As long as America continues its hostile acts of aggression, we will never stop nuclear and missile tests,” said Sok Chol-won, director of North Korea’s Institute of Human Rights at the Academy of Social Sciences.
North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun said it was “entirely because of the US” that global denuclearization had not materialized.
“So US officials should know this clearly and feel responsible, not play with their beaks thoughtlessly,” the newspaper said.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the